Posted onOctober 3, 2018|Comments Off on Finding Felicity (or Being A Total Fangirl)
I watch a lot of tv now. It’s basically my job to know what is on tv. I am trying to not watch everything for the entire season, so I’m starting to get pickier about which shows I choose to follow. But when I was growing up, I didn’t have unlimited tv time so I was very selective. I had a couple of favorite shows, and one of those favorites was “Felicity”.
I’m not exactly sure how I knew about “Felicity” when the show premiered, but I started watching right from the beginning and was pretty obsessed with it from the very first episode. My obsession was so strong that when I heard about a contest to find the biggest fan of the show, my best friend (who was equally obsessed) and I had to make a tape so we could enter.
We were so upset when we didn’t win the contest, but that didn’t stop how much we loved the show. It was only 4 seasons long, but I still think of it as one of my favorites of all time. I’ve rewatched the series a few times and it still holds up and I always enjoy it each time I watch it.
So when my friend Teresa posted an idea about doing a podcast about the show, I immediately told her I had to be a part of it! Teresa never watched “Felicity” so she is doing a podcast about watching it for the first time and she is having guest co-hosts each episode who watched the show when it was on. I was so excited that she invited me to be a part of it and this week I recorded my first episode of Finding Felicity with her!
I’m not a huge fan of hearing my voice because I always think it sounds weird, so I was a bit nervous about doing a podcast. But as soon as we started recorded, I couldn’t shut up because of how much I love the show! I actually was talking too much (sorry Teresa!) and I know they are going to have to edit a lot of what I was saying down so the episode isn’t too long. But I couldn’t help myself! I have so much to say about this show and how much I love it!
This episode of Finding Felicity is about the second episode of the first season, so I had to try to remember what happened in the first two episodes and what happened after so I wouldn’t spoil anything. I did rewatch the first two episodes again just to be extra familiar with those episodes specifically. I think I didn’t really reveal too much that happens in future episodes and when I did refer to things coming up (like characters that haven’t been introduced), I was pretty vague. I was proud of myself for not spoiling things for Teresa because I really want her to experience watching the show with as few spoilers as possible for a show that is 20 years old.
I had the best time recording the episode with Teresa. We had some fun stories to share that weren’t necessarily about the show (those may or may not get cut) and I loved being able to do some personal reflection as we talked. Teresa asked me about my thoughts on the show when I watched it 20 years ago and what my thoughts are watching it now. It did give me a lot to think about and I liked having a new way to think about how my life has changed.
My episode will be available to listen to on Friday, and each Friday there will be another new episode. There will be a rotating cast of guest co-hosts and I will be coming back on for another episode toward the end of the first season. But I know I will be listening to every episode because it is such a fun podcast idea! I love when someone else is becoming a fan of something I am such a huge fan of. And I also love when I have another way to share my fandom for a show that is one that I have honestly loved for decades!
Posted onOctober 2, 2018|Comments Off on Building Upon My Monthly Challenge (or Continuing To Work On Shopping)
Last month, I said my monthly challenge was to not do any online shopping. I did allow myself some exceptions to the rule if necessary, and I’m happy to say that I only did that twice. Both times I shopped online this past month was on Amazon, but only one of those was for me. The first time was sending my friend some supplies they needed after getting home from inpatient treatment. I would have preferred to bring it in person, but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do that soon enough. And the second time I did online shopping was for some household goods (batteries, paper goods, office supplies). And I did do price comparisons to make sure getting them online was the right choice.
Even though I didn’t completely eliminate online shopping, I feel like I did reduce it a lot. And it changed my shopping habits as well. For the stuff I ordered online for myself, I didn’t buy things right away when I needed them. None of the things I needed were urgent, so I just added them to my Amazon cart and saved them up until it was the end of the month. It was much more mindful than I have done online shopping before and I really did notice a difference in what I was considering buying when I knew that I wasn’t necessarily going to be getting it soon. While my shopping wasn’t out of control, I knew I needed to cut back and I’m happy that I was able to accomplish that in September.
I’m going to continue working on limiting my online shopping. I know it won’t be completely eliminated, but I can work on making sure that I’m not ordering things whenever I think of them. I think adding them to my cart and waiting a few weeks was the right choice. I do have other gifts for people I need to order online this month, but it’s really not the same as ordering for myself so I’m not as worried about it. And since they are gifts, I’m just getting that one thing and not seeing what else is something that can be bought.
And going off of that idea, I was inspired for this month’s challenge. I have become so much more mindful of my shopping online. Now I want to be more mindful of my in store shopping as well. And a majority of my in store shopping is for groceries and household things, so the easiest way I think I can be mindful is to always have a list.
I’m actually pretty good at making lists when I’m shopping for household things. I usually shop at CVS and I have been taking advantage of their coupons for a long time. But I have learned that I can combine the coupons you get when you shop along with coupons that various brands put out and with the overall discount coupons I get in the mail (like when you get 30% your shopping trip from CVS). I’m not a crazy coupon person, but it does make me happy when I see the percentage of savings on the bottom of the receipt and it is over 50%. It happens more often than not and it’s nice to know that things I am buying are cheaper than what others may be paying for them.
And I used to do grocery store lists and still occasionally do them. If I’m making something new or have food planned out, I make a list because I hate forgetting one thing that I really need. But I don’t always have a plan and do a lot of routine shopping. I know that I will eat certain things each week and I usually don’t even think about it as I pick up those things each week. But then I also know that there are plenty of times that I just get those things and don’t necessarily think about different meals or what my schedule will be like that will make my meals a bit weird.
I don’t necessarily want to make this about meal planning, although I do think that will be a bit of a side effect of doing this. But I do want to write down what I am going to buy even if it is just stuff I usually get each week. I want to think about what I’m going to do before getting into the store. I can’t guarantee that I will only get the things on the list because sometimes I see something that is new or inspires me. But at least it will give me a plan to try to follow.
In a perfect world, I will make the list for shopping for whatever I am getting before I leave my house. I do try to do that when I can, especially when I’m doing multiple errands back to back. I’ll make a list of each place I’m going to and what I will be getting at each store. I think writing it down really is the best for me because it does help me remember it. But if I’m out and going to do some shopping, I can just make a quick list on my phone. I do have some list apps, but it’s also easy enough to do it as a text or email to myself.
I’m also planning on using this for shopping for clothes and other goods too. When I need to go to a store to buy some new clothes or replace something, I also end up doing a lot of wandering around the store and seeing what else catches my attention. I’m doing much better not buying things that weren’t a part of the plan, but maybe making what I need to buy as a list will help me not waste the time wandering around. I still want to give myself the freedom to do window shopping and see what inspires me, but I want to also make those moments more mindful and for me to be aware that I am choosing to do that.
I’m so glad that I’m going to continue working on my shopping habits this month. I was pleasantly surprised by how last month went and how easy it ended up being. I only hope that this month goes the same way.
Posted onOctober 1, 2018|Comments Off on Back To Regular Workouts (or Making Improvements On My Dri-Tri)
Even though my Dri-Tri went well, it didn’t go as well as I had hoped it would be. I wasn’t down on myself, but it did make me realize that I did need to make improvements when I had a chance to do so. And this past week of workouts did give me some chances to do that.
Monday’s workout was another signature workout. It was the Orange X workout that we had a few months ago! I love when workouts repeat like this because I can measure what I was able to do before and what I can do now. I like to see my progress and these workouts are a good way for me to prove that I have improved.
Because I wasn’t as early as I usually am to class, I had to start on the rower instead of the treadmill. But that didn’t end up being that bad because the workout was a switch day so I didn’t have to wait until the second half of class before I was on the treadmill. The beginning of class was a block that had the same pattern on the rower and the treadmill. We had a 90 second push pace, a 30 second base pace, and a 30 second all out pace. It wasn’t easy for me to do a push or all out on the rower. And when I was on the treadmill I broke the 90 second push pace into 30 second intervals so I ran for 30 seconds 2 times. But after that, I realized it was going to be a walking day so I walked the base and all out paces.
After that quick rowing and treadmill switch, it was time for me to be on the floor to do the Orange X floor work. My group on the floor had the Orange X challenge for the second half of that block so for the first half we had sit-ups, lunges, and mountain climbers so the other half of the floor group had all the weights to use. When it was my group’s turn, I knew I wanted to challenge myself with the weights. For the chest press, I had to stay at 30lb weights because the 35lb ones are just a bit too heavy and I’m not challenging myself when the weights are above my body. But 30lb is still a lot! For the single arm low row, last time I used a 35lb weight but went for 40lb this time. And for the goblet squats last time I used 45lb and this time I went with 50lb! While both of the heavier weights were a bit of a challenge, they weren’t as bad as I expected them to be. But I still don’t think I could have done more than the 10 reps we were supposed to do.
After that, I was on the treadmill for a short run/row block. For power walkers we had a .1 mile walk and then a 200 meter row after. Each time we were on the treadmill we were supposed to increase the incline 1%. My rowing was a bit slower than normal because I really was tired from the floor work, but I just used that time to work on form and counting the pattern of going back and forth. I made it a few rounds in the run/row before it was time to be back on the floor again for my last floor block.
We had the same exercises as the Orange X challenge but with decreasing weights with the hope that we could increase our weights. But because both halves of the floor group were working on it, there weren’t as many weights for me to pick from. I still got my 30lb weights for my chest presses, but for the low row and squats I could either use 40lb or 60lb. As much as I would have liked to go heavier for my squats, I knew I wasn’t ready for 60lbs so I went with 40lb for them. I didn’t mind having lighter weights but I could really feel the difference in how much lighter they felt.
And finally I was back on the treadmill for my last block which was a regular treadmill block. It was 3 rounds of 1 minute push paces with a base pace in between and ended with a 1 minute push pace to a 30 second all out pace. I walked all of this block but was
Wednesday’s workout was a strength based one. We had regular blocks on the treadmill but on the floor it was a floor/row set up. Run/row days are some of my favorites because the time on the treadmill is limited, but floor/row days are starting to be up there too. I know that rowing is one of the best workouts and I like having time to work on my endurance and form.
On the treadmill, we had 3 blocks that all had a similar pattern. We started with a push pace to a base pace that didn’t have any incline (except the standard incline that power walkers have). Then we had a base pace at an incline followed by a base pace at no incline. Then everyone had a power walk at a very high incline and then we ended with an all out pace. Some of the inclines were getting a bit too high for me when everyone was power walking. I really am not comfortable at the very high inclines. I usually don’t like to go higher than 10% and this time we were supposed to do work at 12 and 15%. I tried 12% and managed to do it, but my hips weren’t feeling the best. So for the last one that was at 15% I kept it at 10%.
On the floor, the first block was a regular block that was all mini-band work. We had forward squat walks, lateral squat walks, and hip bridges. Then it was time for the floor/row block. It started with an 800 meter row and then 3 rounds of lunges and pop jacks. I did my pop jacks using the bench like I do with burpees so I could jump my feet back and forth. Then we had a 400 meter row with pop squats and swimmers. The goal was to do the 400 meter row in less than half the time of the 800 meter row and I did get right under that goal. There was also a 200 meter row, but I didn’t make it to that round before class was over.
Friday’s workout was also a strength day. But since this one was a 3 group class the treadmill work wasn’t as tough as the work on Wednesday and the inclines weren’t as high. We had 2 rounds of a 6 minutes for distance challenge, but since I was power walking I wasn’t as competitive with myself as I usually am.
Each of the distance challenges was a push pace for a distance and a base pace for a distance. And the goal was to do as many rounds as possible to get the furthest distance you could do. The first round was a slightly higher incline as the second round so I knew I’d be able to do a little bit better on the second attempt. The first round was done at my normal power walking speed and the second was .1mph higher. It’s easy to beat a distance challenge on the treadmill since you can set it and guarantee you will do better. It wasn’t that much of a difference between the 2 rounds, but I did do better the second time.
Next was the rowers which was one long block. We started with 2 rounds of 500 meter rows. After the first one we had ground to presses with medicine balls and after the second one we had calf raises. After those 2 rows we had 2 rounds of 300 meter rows with the same exercises after each round. For the 500 meter rows, I wasn’t focused too much on my time because I wanted to focus on my stroke rate. I know that for some of the longer rows it might help to have my stroke rate a bit lower. But it’s not something that I can feel on my own without looking at the screen. So I was focused on seeing what my normal rate was and how much slower I had to go to be at the slower rate I was thinking I’d want to be at. I was still under the time we were supposed to be under, but I know that I could have done it a bit faster if that was what I was focused on. I tried to do the same thing with my 300 meter rows, but I realized that the block was going to be ending and ended up just going faster so I could make it through the 2 rows and 2 exercises.
And on the floor, we also had 1 long block. We had a range for the number of reps to do for 2 exercises and that was to allow us to challenge ourselves. Those exercises were hip hinge low rows and bicep curls. I usually would use 20lb for the low rows and 15lb for the bicep curls. So I went with 30lb for the low rows and 20lbs for the bicep curls. The range was 6-10 reps and I was able to do 8 reps with using those heavier weights. In that block we also had single arm low rows using the TRX straps, double crunches, and plank weight pull-throughs. It was an exhausting floor block because I was using heavy weights, but it was worth it.
Saturday’s workout had a bit of a different format. When you started on the treadmill you had 1 block on the treadmill and 1 block on the rower. And when you did the floor work 1 block was the floor and rower and the second block was the floor and the treadmill.
The treadmill and rower block that we had when starting on the treadmill were the same pattern. It was 4 rounds of push pace to all out paces, and the push pace went down each round. I did walking for everything and did my normal speed and inclines. I thought about doing a bit of running, but I stuck with walking since I knew that I still had a lot of rowing and some more treadmill work ahead. The rower is a bit tougher to do push to all out paces, but I tried to increase my speed each time. I didn’t get it up as much as we were supposed to, but there was a bit of difference in speed.
On the floor, the strength work was the same for both blocks. But the first block was adding on exercises and the second block was taking away. We had single arm snatches, push-ups, v-ups, single arm presses, and squats. For the first block, we started with a 300 meter row and the first exercise. Then we went down 50 meters on the row and added another exercise on. I only made it through the 3rd round before that block was done. Then we had sprints on the treadmill followed by all the exercises. Then the sprint increased and we took away the first exercise. I only made it through 2 rounds that time, but that meant I did all the exercises at least twice which is good.
Even though it might not sound like it from my recap, I feel like each day this past week had some sort of improvement. Sometimes I used heavier weights, sometimes I used higher inclines, and sometimes I improved on my form or pace with rowing. Each day had something that I pushed for and that’s exactly what I need to do. This should help me get ready for the next Dri-Tri, but even sooner it will be getting me ready for HellWeek later this month!
Live Podcast Episode (or Another Way You Can Support Me)
